Our Clients:

Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

Apr 30, 2022 12:29 am

Penguins win finale, will face Rangers in playoffs

Marcus Pettersson had a goal and two assists Friday to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-3 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets, clinching third place in the Metropolitan Division.

It was the regular-season finale for both.

Evgeni Malkin and Brian Boyle each added a goal and an assist, Evan Rodrigues and Kris Letang also scored and Teddy Blueger had two assists for the Penguins (46-25-11, 103 points), who scored three times in the first 6 1/2 minutes and locked up a meeting with the New York Rangers to open the playoffs.

Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith made 33 saves.

Justin Danforth, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Gustav Nyquist scored, and Jakub Voracek had two assists for the Blue Jackets (37-38-7, 81 points), who lost 14 of their last 19.

Columbus goaltender J-F Berube allowed three goals on eight shots before being pulled for Elvis Merzlikins, who made 40 saves on 42 attempts.

Malkin opened the scoring at 3:51 of the first period. Berube stopped Pettersson’s wrap-around attempt, but Malkin punched the rebound between the goalie’s pads.

At 5:31 of the first, Rodrigues made it 2-0 as he ripped a one-timer off a feed from Jake Guentzel.

Pettersson scored his second goal of the season 55 seconds later to up the score to 3-0. From the lower part of the right circle, off a feed from Malkin, he squeezed a shot past Berube’s glove.

That ended Berube’s night.

Danforth cut it to 3-1 at 10:25 of the second. A shot by Gabriel Carlsson squeezed through DeSmith’s pads and Danforth dove to push it across.

At 16:30 of the second, Letang reached a career-high 68 points when he converted a pass from Brock McGinn to make it 4-1.

A shot by Pettersson went in off Boyle’s knee in front with 1:06 left in the second to increase Pittsburgh’s lead to 5-1.

Bjorkstrand scored for the fourth straight game about seven minutes into the third period and Nyquist added a power-play goal of his own five minutes later, but it was too little, too late.

–Field Level Media

You may also like

Mar 15, 2023 11:21 pm

Evgeny Kuznetsov’s SO goal propels Capitals over Sabres

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the deciding goal in the shootout and the Washington Capitals rallied for a 5-4 win against the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie…

Mar 15, 2023 11:05 pm

Nathan MacKinnon carries Avs past Leafs in shootout

Nathan MacKinnon scored the only goal of a shootout, and the visiting Colorado Avalanche defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Wednesday night. Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, who made 17…

Mar 15, 2023 9:50 pm

Out to continue road success, Kraken visit Sharks

The Seattle Kraken will play five of their next six games on the road, starting Thursday night at San Jose. Remarkably, that might bolster Seattle’s playoff chances. The Kraken are…

More Hockey News

Mar 15, 2023 11:21 pm

Evgeny Kuznetsov’s SO goal propels Capitals over Sabres

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the deciding goal in the shootout and the Washington Capitals rallied for a 5-4 win against the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie…

Mar 15, 2023 11:05 pm

Nathan MacKinnon carries Avs past Leafs in shootout

Mar 15, 2023 9:50 pm

Out to continue road success, Kraken visit Sharks

Mar 15, 2023 9:39 pm

Canucks, Coyotes cruise into matchup in desert

Mar 15, 2023 9:29 pm

Struggling Flames take on red-hot Golden Knights

Read all
fb-post
advertisment
title-icon

Upcoming events

See all odds